Luke 22:47–62

Be still: Jesus, thank you that you are with me and that you have made your home in me. You couldn’t be any closer. And yet, I want to know you more. I want to understand who you are and your love at a deeper level today. Amen

Read: Luke 22:47–62

Peter replied, “Man, I don’t know what you’re talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly. (vv60–62)

Encounter: We come to the deeply sad moment of Peter's denial of Jesus.  Peter, who was so quick to say: ‘I’m all in’, finds himself walking away from Jesus.

Peter’s denial of Jesus is also our story. We all have, at times, denied Jesus either explicitly or implicitly. To deny Jesus sounds big and dramatic. But I find that my own denials of Jesus are much more subtle. 

Denying Jesus, in effect, is the refusal to believe that he is who he says he is. And this takes place in a thousand ways in our lives. For example, take money and generosity. Jesus has promised earlier in Luke 12 that just as the Father provides for the birds of the air, so the Father will provide for us. And yet, despite that truth about who Jesus is, I can still be tight-fisted with money. I want to hold onto it because what if… That ‘what if’ is, in a small way, a denial of who Jesus is. If I trusted him and truly trusted what he said, would I be tight-fisted in the same way? If Jesus has promised to provide for every need, then I’m free to be generous with what I have been given.

Apply: Are you willing to pray this prayer from Psalm 139: 

'Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.'

Take a moment to ask the Lord to highlight an area in your life where you may be denying Jesus in a subtle way. Acknowledge what God has brought to mind, ask for his forgiveness, and to give you his replacement truth.

Devote: Thank you, Lord, for your loving-kindness. I know you want nothing more than my freedom. And when you bring things into the light, help me to acknowledge them, repent and accept your offer of fresh freedom.